


I am the Hungry Shark

by Loki_Demon



Series: The Animal [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Antisemitism, F/M, Racism, attempted murder/ murder it's unclear which, general violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-03-11
Packaged: 2018-05-26 00:20:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6216037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loki_Demon/pseuds/Loki_Demon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regulus. On a motherfucking boat. A real life ship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I am the Hungry Shark

**Author's Note:**

> Title Song: Lydia by Highly Suspect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev-bR9ii7Gs

Regulus pushed his sunglasses up on his forehead and squinted at Hope. She didn’t look half Jewish. Really, Regulus looked more Jewish than her and he certainly wasn’t, there wasn’t a drop of bad blood in him. Still, Regulus had looked into her parentage and there was no denying it. It gave Regulus a sour taste in his mouth to think about. She had looked deceptively innocent with her pale skin and light hair and generally demure manner. He couldn’t have guessed.

Sighing, Regulus walked across the deck of his yacht, where Hope was standing with her arms out, like Rose from the fucking Titanic. Except there wasn’t a breeze and she just looked ridiculous. This girl. How had he been so tragically wrong about this girl?

She turned and smiled at him. “This is great.”

Regulus shrugged. “It’s whatever.”

“Stop being such a downer. I’m enjoying myself.”

“I’m not stopping you.”

“You are too. I can’t be properly happy if you’re not enjoying yourself too.”

Regulus blinked at her. “That’s absurd.”

“You’re absurd,” Hope grumbled.

Regulus shook his head. The concept of caring about the feelings of the people around you to the extent that it affected your mood was foreign to him. He’d seen films, of course, and read books, but that wasn’t real life. People didn’t actually care that much about other people. Except, apparently, Hope. “Who says I’m not enjoying myself?” He leaned his back against the railing and smiled lazily at her. “I’m on a motherfucking boat.”

Hope laughed. “You haven’t got a nautical themed pashmina afghan, though.”

“That’s…not an actual thing.” Regulus straightened his ascot (without a nautical theme, because he wasn’t absolute trash) and tugged at the ends of his jacket. “I have got boat shoes.”

“Of course you have boat shoes. You’re like, the most pretentious thing to ever happen to this Earth.” Hope studied him for a moment before reaching up to grab his hat. “Here, you have to strategically dip your hat below your eye.”

Regulus laughed and tried to push her off him. “That’s not a thing.”

“It’s a thing,” she insisted, giggling and tugging at his hat. She wrestled playfully with him in an attempt to get a hold of his hat until he slipped backwards suddenly, and grabbed at the railing. “Oh shit. I almost pushed you over.”

Regulus straightened up and patted his head. He looked over the railing. “My hat. You threw my hat in the goddamn ocean.”

“I’m sorry. Shit. I’m really sorry Regulus.”

“Whatever.”

“I’d offer to buy you a new one but I imagine it’s out of my price range.”

Regulus scoffed. “Definitely.”

Hope crossed her arms and pushed out her lip into a pouty frown. “You were having fun and I ruined it.”

“Yes. You did. Great job. A+.”

“You’re supposed to like…say that I didn’t.”

“Honestly Hope? You are beyond absurd. I’m not going to lie to make you feel better.”

Hope shrugged and kicked at the deck. “It’s just nice.”

“I’m not nice,” Regulus snapped, turning his back on her.

“Clearly.”

Regulus turned back around. His voice was dripping with mockery as he said, “Aren’t you supposed to say that I am?”

“Whatever. Fuck you.”

“Rather not, thanks all the same.”

Hope narrowed her eyes and stormed off.

Regulus walked down into the cabin to find Hope sipping on wine and flipping through a magazine. “Do you want dinner?”

“Mmm? Yeah. Did you make food?”

“I brought food. Kreacher made it.”

“Ah,” Hope said softly. “Of course.”

“If you don’t want it–”

“No, no, I’m hungry.”

Regulus went into the back room and brought back an unreasonably large amount of food, including a large bowl of mashed potatoes.   
Hope grabbed the bowl immediately. “This. This is for me.”

Regulus raised his eyebrows. “All of it?”

Hope nodded eagerly. “It’s all I want.” She curled up on the couch and licked mashed potatoes off a spoon straight from the bowl, her wine glass resting on the table in front of her.

“Well I definitely can’t eat any now,” Regulus said, looking disgusted. “You’ve contaminated it.”

Hope rolled her eyes. “You’re being a bit dramatic. I don’t have, like, mono or anything.”

No, Regulus thought. You’ve just got Jewish blood in your veins, that’s all. No big deal or anything, it’s just disgusting is all.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

Regulus shrugged at the food. It all looked unappetizing now. “Maybe later.”

“You were the one who wanted to have dinner in the first place!”

“No, I just asked you if you wanted dinner.”

“Which implies that you do too.”

“It doesn’t imply anything.”

“Ugh!” Hope rolled her eyes again in exasperation. “Can you please just eat? You know I don’t like to be the only one eating.”

“You seem to be alright eating those potatoes on your own."

“Don’t fucking judge my food choices.”

“Don’t eat an entire bowl of mashed potatoes!”

“God, fine, I won’t eat,” Hope said, slamming the bowl of potatoes onto the table.

Regulus sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Eat. I’ll eat something too.”

Hope’s expression immediately changed from pissed off to pleased. She picked up her mashed potatoes and ducked her head a little as she put a spoonful in her mouth, grinning over at Regulus.

She was really too fucking adorable. It made him want to punch her in the face.

After dinner they went back up to the deck and leaned against the railing. “The ocean’s so pretty when it’s dark,” Hope said, stretching her arm out, as though she could touch the water from there.

“Mmm,” Regulus said, looking over her shoulder, distracted.

“What’s the matter with you?”

Regulus looked at her sharply. “Nothing.”

Hope threw her arms up. “Alright, alright. You’re just acting…moodier than usual.” Regulus took a half-step in her direction and grabbed her arm. “Ow! Rex, you’re hurting me.”

“So are you,” Regulus replied, venom in his voice. He didn’t let go of her arm. “You lied to me.”

Hope kept trying to push him off her with a fearful expression on her face. “I didn’t! I don’t think I–”

“You’re father,” Regulus snarled, “is Jewish.”

“Y-yeah. So?”

“You didn’t tell me that.”

“I–didn’t think it was important. I wasn’t even raised Jewish like–”

“You’re still a part of their filth!”

Hope tugged her arm, hard. Regulus maintained his grip on her. “You’re fucking insane, that’s a terrible thing to say.”

“It isn’t. It’s true, you know it’s true, that’s why you’re always hanging around me, pretending to be Aryan.”

“I don’t pretend to be anything.”

“You’re a liar!”

“Regulus. You’re scaring me.”

“Good. You should be scared.”

“Will you please–will you please just let go of me? I won’t ever talk to you again, I promise.”

“Not good enough.”

“What–What do you mean?” Regulus leaned her back up against the railing. “Regulus! What are you doing? Please!” A helpless, pleading look was in her eyes. Regulus grinned, grabbed her by her shirt front, and threw her off the ship.

Then he turned around and wiped the sweat off his brow with a shaky hand. He could hear Hope screaming his name. He put his face in his hands and then ran them through his hair. “Pull it together,” he muttered to himself. “This is your fucking life now.”

He took a deep breath, straightened up, and walked to the cabin. He phoned Riddle as he steered the ship back to shore. “It’s done.”


End file.
